1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to network access schemes and, more particularly, to an interface for targeted network video download.
2. Description of the Related Art
The early beginnings of the network commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cthe Internetxe2x80x9d involved scientists, researchers, and technology experts exchanging information over a secure computer network. Now, the Internet is fast becoming popular with the general populace not just for information exchange, but also for entertainment and recreation. Users can access thousands of files at Internet sites that contain text, graphics, video, and audio content by using computer browser programs that navigate the collection of such sites commonly called the xe2x80x9cworld wide webxe2x80x9d.
For the typical home user, access to the Internet is gained by connecting their computer to an Internet service provider (ISP) through a telephone line, although other connection services are gaining popularity. In most cases where a home user has an ISP, the user gains access to the Internet through the ISP in exchange for a fee paid by the user. The connection from the user computer to the ISP can be virtually any type of network access, such as typical analog telephone line access through a local exchange carrier or telephone company. Other connection services include cable services, and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) services.
For typical telephone connections, an ISP will usually have several telephone numbers available in a user""s local calling area for a dial-up connection. A modem is connected between the user computer and the telephone line, to provide an interface between the digital data used by the computer and the analog signal transmitted over the telephone line. The user uses a dial-up connection utility program to connect the user computer to the ISP system via the modem. Such a connection system can provide data exchange rates of 36K bytes per second upload (computer user to ISP) and up to 56 K bytes per second download (ISP to computer user). The connection from the ISP to the Internet xe2x80x9cback bonexe2x80x9d is typically over relatively expensive, high-speed digital lines such as fiber optic cable over T1 or T3 connections that can provide data exchange rates of 1 M bytes per second or greater.
Recently, Internet service companies have begun to provide Internet content to users based on the broadcast television model of content delivery. That is, Internet content is delivered to users for no charge, in exchange for the content being delivered with advertising materials, which are observed by viewers. The companies who provide the advertising materials pay fees to the Internet content providers, the ISPs, for the advertising exposure in the hope that it will keep their products and services uppermost in viewer""s minds and will influence purchasing decisions. The fees paid by advertisers are typically a function of click-through rate, which is the rate of ad viewers who visit the advertiser""s web site from the banner ad.
The Internet advertising typically consists of images that take up a portion of a user""s browser window on the computer display screen, so-called xe2x80x9cbannerxe2x80x9d advertising. The banner advertising leaves most of the browser window free for viewing, and typically places the banner across a top area of the window. A typical Internet access-for-advertising arrangement uses a dial-up connection that continuously downloads a banner ad from the ISP while the user is connected. That is, as soon as the user""s browser or viewer is ready for a new banner ad, a new banner ad is downloaded from an ad server. The download may or may not interfere with the user""s Internet activity.
Because the banner advertising occupies a relatively small area of the user""s display window, the advertising does not preempt viewing of Internet content. Thus, banner advertising does not intrude on the user""s Internet experience, but because it is static, it unfortunately can rather easily be ignored by the user. This is unlike the model of broadcast television, which generally ensures that no other display interruption will occur during the viewing of advertising content. Moreover, banner advertising does nothing to catch the attention of the user, and this reduces the likelihood that a user will take the time to view the banner advertising, and reduces its effectiveness.
Video images, comprising data files that provide full-motion video displays, can be viewed over the Internet. Video files are desirable for providing a moving image display, with audio, which will more likely attract and hold a viewer""s interest. Video files, however, are relatively large and can take an inordinate amount of time to download. Banner ads may require 5 K to 25 K bytes of data, but a video file of 30 seconds duration may require 1.3 M bytes of data, even with data compression. As noted above, banner ads are sufficiently small that they may be downloaded without notice by a user while the user is viewing Internet content. In contrast, video files are so large that a user""s Internet viewing almost certainly would be interrupted while the large file was being downloaded. Hence, video files are not conducive to the access-for-advertising, broadcast television model of providing Internet access.
Compounding the greater amount of time necessary to download video files is the problem of variety and staleness. Viewers can quickly become familiar with video advertising images, just as with television commercials in the broadcast context. Experience is showing that the Internet user has a short attention span. Therefore, it is important to provide the user with a variety of advertising that is constantly refreshed. If video advertising is to be useful for the Internet, then it is important to provide a variety of video files, notwithstanding the fact that such files take longer to download. With these conflicting ideals, it can be seen that video advertising is not currently practical in the access-for-advertising model of Internet access, because they take a greater amount of time to download than banner advertising, and they must be refreshed frequently to avoid becoming stale.
From the discussion above, it should be apparent that there is a need for an Internet access-for-advertising technique that provides Internet content to users along with video advertising that will more likely hold the interest and attention of Internet users and also ensures a fresh supply of video files, without interrupting the Internet experience of the user. The present invention fulfills this need.
The present invention provides a technique for providing free Internet access to a user, in which an access control system sends video advertising files to a user who gains access to the Internet through a network connection that includes a viewer program that operates independently of the user""s browser and e-mail programs. The viewer receives ads from the access control system and manages an ad pool that collects multiple video advertising files. Video advertising files are downloaded when the user is not actively using the bandwidth of the Internet connection to download Internet content. The viewer program periodically opens a viewer window, which opens on top of any other open windows, and in which an ad from the ad pool is displayed. When one or more video ads are finished, the viewer window is hidden or made an inactive window for a quiet interval. At the conclusion of the quiet interval, the viewer widow is activated and the next ad in the ad pool is displayed. The viewer program cycles through existing ads in the ad pool until a new ad is received from the access server. The viewer program manages the ad pool such that the oldest ad is discarded when a new ad is received, and such that each ad is displayed or viewed in order of download for approximately as long as it takes an ad to be downloaded. This ensures that ad viewing can continuously cycle through the ad pool with the minimum of repetition, and with no interruption to the user""s Internet experience. In this way, the invention keeps the ad pool fresh within a predetermined ad pool size, and provides Internet content to users for no charge or fee, and also ensures a fresh supply of video advertising files that will more likely hold the interest and attention of the Internet user.
In one aspect of the invention, the viewer program provides fraud detection features to ensure that users do not disable the viewer program. In this way, advertisers can be confident that their video ads will be viewed by the intended audience. In another aspect of the invention, users are provided with a link window that permits users to select a web site that corresponds to one of the video ads in the ad pool. Selecting the web site of a video ad sponsor results in the user""s browser receiving content from the sponsor""s web site.
Other features and advantages of the present invention should be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment, which illustrates, by way of example, the principles of the invention.